It's been 15 years, but we continue to grow. We’re young, but we have a lot to look forward to. As one of the most progressive, outreach-oriented Parishes in town, we like to think we’re making history, every day.
The Noonan Academy generously shared their facility with us during the planning and building of our church. Our first Mass was celebrated on Saturday, January 12, 2002. Plans for the new Church were undertaken almost immediately after our first weekend of liturgies. On March 1, 2002, we were canonically erected as a parish.
On June 20, 2002, the initial preliminary plans for our new Church building were put on display and shared for the first time with our parishioners.
The initial plans were changed to establish a Church with 1350 seats plus 300 more in the Chapel area. A ground breaking ceremony was held on April 23, 2003. On December 25, 2004, Christmas Day, a Mass was celebrated in a tent on the Church property.
On Holy Thursday, March 24, 2005, the long awaited certificate of occupancy was received and Mass that evening was celebrated in the main nave of the Church. The Church was formally dedicated on April 9, 2005 by the Most Reverend John J. Nevins, Bishop of Venice, Florida.
History of St. John XXIII Parish Life Center (PLC)
Giving thanks to God for His grace and abundant blessings, St. John XXIII Catholic Church continues to expand, flourish, and build its legacy with the dedication of its Parish Life Center (PLC) on November 18, 2018.
The need for this 20,000 square foot complex, housing nine multi-use classrooms with office space, fellowship hall, indoor/outdoor stage, and commercial kitchen, grew as the parish expanded from several hundred families when it began in 2002 to a parish that now serves more than 3500 families in 2018. We anticipate at least 500 more families to register at the parish over the next five years.
The vision for a Parish Life Center began with founding pastor, Rev. Charles K. Sullivan; was maintained by parish interim administrator Rev. Marc Lussier, MSA; and became reality under the guidance of our current pastor Rev. Robert Tabbert, who arrived at St. John XXIII in May, 2007.
Realizing that the parish had simply outgrown its space, having to turn the Narthex into make-shift classrooms for Faith Formation and the Chapel into a Community Room, Father Robert Tabbert, working with numerous parish ministries, began to develop a long-range plan to make the vision of a Parish Life Center a reality.
The first step in this process began with a six-month campaign in the summer of 2013 to eliminate the parish mortgage debt. Due to the remarkable generosity of parishioners, St. John XXIII was debt free by December, 2014.
Next, a feasibility study for a Parish Life Center was conducted. Diocesan approval was received to begin planning the PLC project in 2014.
These milestones allowed the church to begin the herculean task of mounting a Capital Campaign to fund the building of the Parish Life Center in February 2015. More than $5 million was needed to break ground in order to meet the Diocesan policy requiring an 80% down payment. A three-year pledge campaign began in early 2015. Due to the sacrificial giving of parishioners and the work of countless ministries, the multi-million dollar goal was reached by June, 2017.
The architectural firm of SchenkelShultz was selected to design a facility that would blend in and complement existing architecture. Also, the design would include a free-standing adoration chapel located directly across from the Church’s main entrance. The local contracting firm of Owen-Ames-Kimball was hired and the long-awaited official ground breaking was held October 22, 2017.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Bishop of the Diocese of Venice, Florida, formally dedicated St. John XXIII Parish Life Center and Adoration Chapel on Nov. 18, 2018. The Bishop’s blessing of this holy ground echoed the sentiment of the Capital Campaign Prayer, ”May we give as a gift to future generations what we have received as a gift from You, O God.”
formally dedicated St. John XXIII Parish Life Center and Adoration Chapel on Nov. 18, 2018.
